Deane Bowers
My research interests are in the interaction of insects with their environment and other organisms. I am especially interested in the chemical mediation of plant-insect-enemy interactions; but also in the effects of human alterations of the environment on these interactions. I work in a variety of systems, including Lepidoptera and their host plants, predators and parasitoids; the consequences of introduced weeds for native herbivores; and insect immune responses to parasitoids and pathogens.
If you are interested in the lab, please contact me! Also, please see "Do's and Don't's for Grad School" if you are thinking of applying here or elsewhere.
If you are interested in the lab, please contact me! Also, please see "Do's and Don't's for Grad School" if you are thinking of applying here or elsewhere.
Post-Doctoral Scholars
Adrian Carper
I am broadly interested in how humans affect natural communities and the ecosystem services we depend on. My research focuses mainly on pollinators (bees), and how changes in human land-use practices affect patterns of bee abundance and diversity, as well as the sustainability of pollination services. These lines of research are critical for addressing plant and pollinator conservation in a world where human activities have had and will continue to have dramatic effects on the biodiversity and resilience of natural communities. Check out my website for more information.
Graduate Students
Katherine Hernandez, Ph.D student
I study how the earth's changing climate affects the interaction of herbivorous insects and their host plants, with a particular focus on thermal changes. I am especially interested in how insects that feed on a wide variety of host plant species are impacted by temperature change. My primary study organism is the wide-ranging butterfly, the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui, family Nymphalidae), which has one of the most diverse host plant range of any butterfly.
For my Master's degree, I worked with Rebecca Simmons at North Dakota State University, where I studied host plant relationships of moths in the genus Grammia (Erebidae, Arctiinae).
Grammia sp. (Arctiidae)
Megan Zabinski, Ph.D Student
I am interested in how chemical and immune system defenses interact in specialist herbivorous insects that can sequester chemical compounds from their host plants.
Entomology Collection Manager
Virginia Scott
I am broadly interested in the order Hymenoptera, and specialize in bee biology, taxonomy and systematics. I'm involved in a number of research and outreach projects. Currently, I am investigating the impacts of severe floods on bees in the Front Range of Colorado. Additionally, I am helping coordinate The Bees Needs project, a citizen science based survey of cavity nesting bees. In collaboration with other bee whizzes I published The Bees of Colorado, a comprehensive description of Colorado's bee fauna.
Lab Affiliates
Lab Alumni
Megan Blanchard, Ph.D--graduated 2019
My research investigates how chemical defenses change throughout a plant's life-cycle. Plants are exposed to different selective pressures from seed to seedling to mature plant and may alter concentrations and locations of defensive chemical compounds in response to those pressures. Such changes in selection may have crucial effects on how seeds, compared to adult plants, allocate their resources for defense and growth; and thus, the evolution of seed defenses. I am now a post-doc at Northern Arizona University, working with Liza Holeski. Please see my website for more information.
Erin Barbeau, M.S. Museum and Field Studies, Graduated 2019
As a graduate student in the Museum and Field Studies Program, I worked in the Entomology section collections as a Graduate Assistant. There I assisted with curation, databasing, imaging, and collection organization. My thesis research investigated defensive behaviors of a nymphalid caterpillar, the White Peacock, Junonia coenia. I found that they showed an extensive repertoire of defense behaviors that changed as caterpillars aged and depended to some extent on the host plant on which caterpillars feed. Please see my website for more information.
Tobin Hammer, Ph.D--graduated 2018
I study the microbial communities that are symbiotically associated with insects, mainly lepidopterans (caterpillars, butterflies and moths), and am particularly interested in how these microbiota mediate interactions between insects and plants. For example, one of my research projects investigates the potential role of bacterial symbionts in enabling Heliconius butterflies to feed on pollen, and another is testing whether host plant chemistry affects microbial community assembly in the gut of Manduca larvae. I am co-advised by Deane and Noah Fierer, a microbial ecologist. Please visit my website for further information.
Caitlin Kelly Ph.D.--graduated December, 2016
My research interests span the fields of chemical and behavioral ecology. My dissertation research examines the role of plant secondary metabolites in tri-trophic interactions. Specifically, I study the consequences of a class of plant chemical defenses, iridoid glycosides, on host plant use patterns by herbivores of varying diet breadth and how these compounds mediate interactions between herbivores and their natural enemies. Please visit my website for more information.
Brian Stucky--Graduated fall, 2015; now a post-doc at University of Florida
My research investigates parasite host dynamics in cicadas and blow flies. I am particularly interested in how parasites use eavesdropping in combination with other sensory cues to locate suitable hosts. I was co-advised by Rob Guralnick and Deane.
Collin Schwantes - Working in Washington D.C.
Katie Wolfson - Education specialist at Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Brian Stucky - Post-doc at University of Florida
Susan Whitehead - Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech University
Natalie Robinson - Quantitative Ecologist at NEON
Mary Jamieson - Assistant Professor at Oakland University
Kasey Barton - Associate Professor at University of Hawaii
Katie Wolfson - Education specialist at Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Brian Stucky - Post-doc at University of Florida
Susan Whitehead - Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech University
Natalie Robinson - Quantitative Ecologist at NEON
Mary Jamieson - Assistant Professor at Oakland University
Kasey Barton - Associate Professor at University of Hawaii
